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Congratulations Anthony English for being shortlis

Congratulations Anthony English for being shortlisted for the @thesocietyofauthors #paultordaymemorialprize !

Good luck to Anthony and all the shortlisted authors 🤞

‘Death of a Coast Watcher’ by Anthony English

In 1943 on Bougainville Island, New Guinea, a Japanese officer beheads Hugh Rand, an Australian spy — a coast watcher. The spectators include villagers he terrorised as his mind frayed under the stress of pursuit by soldiers and their hounds.

Rand’s influence transcends his death. For decades he plagues characters who strive to cope with him and one another in New Guinea, the Gilbert Islands, Australia and Japan. Who misperceives? Lies? Self-destructs? Suffers? Loves? The layers unfold as the author entices us through cultural, historical and intellectual curtains, deep into minds and relationships disturbed by the Pacific war and Rand’s legacy.

‘The best kept secret of Australian writing … an exceptional novel’ Greg Barron, author

‘An artful novel that asks very difficult questions … a thought-provoking book … highly recommended’ Lisa Hill, anzlitlovers.com

#SoAwards #SoAwards22 #awards #soa #fiction #paultorday #authorsofinstagram #writingcommunity @definitelybooks #debutauthor #bookprize #lovebooks #monsoonbooks

Congratulations Rose Gan on a really successful au

Congratulations Rose Gan on a really successful author talk at Woodbridge Library in Suffolk, England. Rose was over from Malaysia to deliver a fascinating talk to a crowd of fifty local residents about fellow local and 18th-century adventurer Captain Francis Light, the man who established the British settlement of Penang. Following the talk Rose signed copies of her books ‘Dragon’ and ‘Pearl’, the first two volumes in Penang Chronicles.

#authortalk #penang #malaysia #historyofmalaysia #penangchronicles #monsoonbooks #woodbridgesuffolk #historicalfiction

Off press! ‘Pearl’ by Rose Gan, Volume 2 in th

Off press! ‘Pearl’ by Rose Gan, Volume 2 in the Penang Chronicles.

Francis Light, the enigmatic Martinha, and the island of Penang

In this second volume of Penang Chronicles, the eponymous pearl, Martinha Rozells, embodies the diverse heritages of the Straits of Malacca in the 18th century. From her birth in Phuket to her childhood at the court of Kedah, we enter the fascinating world of a well-born woman of the Indies. Meanwhile her new husband, Francis Light, is still the dragon in search of his elusive pearl: a British settlement on the Straits of Malacca.

From the courts of Siam and Kedah, to capture by the French and Dutch, from the salons of Calcutta through gun-running in the Straits, Pearl takes the reader on an astonishing journey culminating in the attainment of a dream on the island of Penang.

‘Rose Gan’s trilogy takes the reader on a masterfully compelling eighteenth-century birth-to-death journey alongside Francis Light. Vividly imagined scenarios interwoven with the threads of history are guaranteed to keep the reader fully engaged. Dragon, Pearl and Emporium set the benchmark for historical fiction of the region.’
Marcus Langdon, author of Penang: The Fourth Presidency of India 1805–1830

#penang #penangchronicles #francislight #malaysia #malaysianliterature #historicalfiction #georgetown

Join us at Woodbridge Library, Suffolk, for an eve

Join us at Woodbridge Library, Suffolk, for an evening with author Rose Gan! Rose's new series of historical fiction, Penang Chronicles, is set in Suffolk in the 18th century and chronicles Melton-born, Woodbridge-educated adventurer Captain Francis Light on his dangerous voyage to establish the first British Port in the Indies: Penang.

Event: An evening with author Rose Gan
Time: Thu 19 May 2022, 19:30
Place: Woodbridge Library
Cost: £6 per person, includes a glass of wine
Booking: Call Woodbridge Library on 01394 330855 to book your place.

Melton-born, Woodbridge School-educated 18th-century adventurer Francis Light travelled from Suffolk to Sumatra, the Straits of Malacca and Siam, through shipwreck, sea battles, pirate raids and tropical disease, to realise his ultimate dream of establishing the first British port in the Indies: Penang.

#woodbridgesuffolk #suffolklibraries #woodbridgelibrary #whatsoninsuffolk #suffolkwriter

Posted @withregram • @rainydayramen_cosmicpachin

Posted @withregram • @rainydayramen_cosmicpachinko @rainydayramen_cosmicpachinko by @gordonvanstone #novel #japan #okinawa #tokyo #bookstagram #publicationversary #reading

‘PNG Attitude’ the online information source f

‘PNG Attitude’ the online information source for news and events concerning Papua New Guinea, reports on author Anthony English's recent Paul Torday Memorial Prize shortlist by Society of Authors for his work of literary fiction 'Death of a Coast Watcher', which is set partly in PNG and partly in the Gilbert Islands (Kiribati), Kyoto and Australia.

‘Along with other pre-independence kiaps,’ notes PNG Attitude, ‘English was awarded the Police Overseas Service Medal by the Australian government in 2013. His greatest achievement in the book is to have sat convincingly inside the heads of his principal characters, including the Tolai women, and relayed their most sensitive innermost feeling and thoughts.’

Visit www.pngattitude.com to read the full article.

#papuanewguinea #tolai #bougainville #kiribati #kyoto #australianauthor

Huge congratulations to author Anthony English for

Huge congratulations to author Anthony English for making the 2022 Paul Torday Memorial Prize shortlist by Society of Authors UK with his first novel ‘Death of a Coast Watcher’ set in Asia-Pacific.

In 1943 on Bougainville Island, New Guinea, a Japanese officer beheads Hugh Rand, an Australian spy — a coast watcher. The spectators include villagers he terrorised as his mind frayed under the stress of pursuit by soldiers and their hounds.

Rand’s influence transcends his death. For decades he plagues characters who strive to cope with him and one another in New Guinea, the Gilbert Islands, Australia and Japan. Who misperceives? Lies? Self-destructs? Suffers? Loves? The layers unfold as the author entices us through cultural, historical and intellectual curtains, deep into minds and relationships disturbed by the Pacific war and Rand’s legacy.

‘The best kept secret of Australian writing … an exceptional novel’ Greg Barron, author

‘Death of a Coast Watcher is an artful novel that asks very difficult questions: about evil acts done by all sides in war; about mythologising false heroism; about whether atrocities should be memorialised because that might only foster ongoing hatred, and about how governments so readily abandon moral principles for strategic, economic and diplomatic reasons … a thought-provoking book … Highly recommended.’ Lisa Hill, anzlitlovers.com

‘As a woman, I found myself totally immersed in this account of the horrors of war, where innocent indigenous women are caught up in its atrocities, demonstrating their strength and resilience … Memories of past events plague the minds of those who have a connection to it, to the point of obsession, as if they are possessed by the ghosts of these characters … An amazing read which delivers a complex tale of the injustices of war and a fight for survival, very close to home.’ Dr Jenny Murray-Jones, Deakin University

Stay tuned for updates on the award! 📖 🏆

Available from leading bookstores worldwide.

@thesocietyofauthors #soawards #soawards22 #literaryawards #papuanewguinea #japanesebooks #australianauthor #australianliterature #kiribati #monsoonbooks #paultordaymemorialprize @definitelybooks

'Someone is Coming' by TA Morton. Available soon f

'Someone is Coming' by TA Morton. Available soon from all leading bookstores.

Memories come thick and heavy like the rains that fall in the jungle. Dense droplets wash the leaves and soak into the ground, cleansing the acrid smell of rubber, cleansing the jungle of its sins. I hear my mother’s voice. No more secrets, Philip, I promise. Someone is coming, get ready.

Philip Goundry is 93 and living out his days quietly in a care home in England when a young researcher from Singapore arrives, wanting to learn more about his former life in Malaya for the Singapore archives.

His memory growing fitful, Philip is torn between wanting to unburden himself and staying silent, as he has done all these years, about the sinister and shocking events of his childhood on a Malayan rubber plantation. The truth, however, has a habit of winning.

‘A beautifully written, gripping thriller about history and memory and how they intersect.’ Sophie Hannah, Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author

@jacarandalitagency @ta.morton @definitelybooks #monsoonbooks #historicalfiction #gothicfiction #malaysia #malaya #someoneiscoming #malaysianliterature #singaporeliterature

Congrats to author Yap Swi Neo on a lovely review

Congrats to author Yap Swi Neo on a lovely review of her book “You Might Want To Marry My Husband” in Malaysia’s New Straits Times.

“You might want to marry my husband: Yap Swi Neo enthrals with her nostalgic reflections,” writes Elena Koshy in the New Straits Times (March 27, 2022). “Yap's childhood memories are filled with vignettes we can all relate to. In the Asian context, women rule over the kitchen and some of our early childhood memories can be found there as we stood on stools and stirred pots of curry under our mothers' watchful gaze … Yap's tales are filled with atmosphere; slightly odd, more than a little askew, and every single story has a fascinating narrative voice and a simplicity that blend fact into fiction while revealing unspoken truths.”

“You Might Want To Marry My Husband” by Yap Swi Neo is available from leading bookstores in Malaysia, Singapore and globally, as well as in ebook format.

Read the full NST review at: https://tinyurl.com/2s3c7bst

#malaysianliterature #singaporeliterature #melaka #malacca #kualalumpur #singapore #malaysia #shortstories #monsoonbooks #womenauthors #malaysianauthor

Great to see Catherine Monnet’s “At Sea with a

Great to see Catherine Monnet’s “At Sea with a Song” in number 1 spot at B2S in Central Festival shopping center on Koh Samui island in Thailand.

***

Thai island girl Thanikarn’s chances of meeting a good Thai man were limited … and foreigners couldn’t be trusted.

On the Thai island of Koh Samui, Thanikarn, a masseuse with traditional values, has never fallen in love – until she meets Lucas, a dashing French American musician, ten years her junior. After a brief and passionate affair, Lucas returns home and Thanikarn doubts she’ll ever see him again.

But Lucas leaves Thanikarn with more than just memories, including a song that he composes and records for her.

While Thanikarn bravely navigates adulthood alone, making life choices, moving to the island of Phuket and developing new friendships, she is unaware that Lucas’ singing career is taking off.

Will Thanikarn find out what has become of Lucas? Will their lives ever cross again? Only unforeseen events and the gift of a song will decide.

#kohsamui #thailand #beachread #romancebooks #fiction #bangkok #phuket

Posted @withregram • @womenplot 🇬🇧 a good

Posted @withregram • @womenplot 🇬🇧 a good book allows me to travel in space and time with my mind. So, fasten your seatbelt, we’re off to Asia! Find those titles on our marketplace, link in bio

🇮🇹 un buon libro mi permette di viaggiare nello spazio e nel tempo con la mente. Allora, allacciate la cintura, si parte per l'Asia! Trovate tutti questi titoli sul nostro sito web, link in bio

Posted @withregram • @rainydayramen_cosmicpachin

Posted @withregram • @rainydayramen_cosmicpachinko Found my debut novel in the Japanese Literature section @kinokuniyath #enquartier store … luv seeing @rainydayramen_cosmicpachinko In a new Country!
@monsoonbooks @definitelybooks #thailand #bangkok #japaneseliterature #murakamiharuki #tokyo #amwriting #bookstagram #bookshelf #booktok

Every manuscript requires its own style guide, a l

Every manuscript requires its own style guide, a list of confirmed spellings for words that might not feature in the OED. This is the list of discourse particles for “The Death of Sally Song”, a Singapore crime novel due out in the fall.

#singlish #singaporeliterature #monsoonbooks

Monsoon Books is pleased to announce it has acquir

Monsoon Books is pleased to announce it has acquired worldwide print, audio and TV/film rights in “The Death of Sally Song” by Singapore-based author Julianne Cheah. Set in 1990s west coast Singapore, this crime novel exposes drug use, bullying, loan sharks and police inefficiency in the HDB heartlands and is scheduled for release in autumn 2022.

Juggling her job, her family, her friends and her worries about her future keeps inquisitive bookshop assistant Mei busy, but when a customer is murdered, she needs to know why. Taking lessons from her favourite mysteries, Mei navigates the darker side of Singapore to find out what really led to the death of Sally Song.

@definitelybooks #singaporeliterature #singaporecrimes #crimefiction

Monsoon Books is proud to announce it has acquired

Monsoon Books is proud to announce it has acquired UK and Southeast Asian publication and TV/film rights from Jacaranda Agency in ‘Someone is Coming’ by T.A. Morton. The gothic historical novel set in Malaya will be published in autumn 2022.

T.A. Morton is a Singapore-based Irish/Australian writer. In 2020 she was shortlisted for the Virginia Prize for Fiction and the Bridport Prize. She is currently completing her Masters in Crime and Thriller Writing at Cambridge University.

In ‘Someone is Coming’, Philip Goundry is 93, living out his days quietly when a young researcher from Singapore arrives at his care home wanting to know about his former life in Malaya.

His memory growing fitful, Philip is torn between wanting to unburden himself and staying silent, as he has done all these years, about the sinister and shocking events of his childhood on a jungle rubber plantation. The truth, however, has a habit of winning.

@jacarandalitagency @ta.morton #monsoonbooks #historicalfiction #gothicfiction #malaysia #malaya #someoneiscoming #malaysianliterature #singaporeliterature

Monsoon Books is proud to announce that a selectio

Monsoon Books is proud to announce that a selection of its titles by female authors is now available for sale on @womenplot, an organization dedicated to promoting literature and literary events by female authors worldwide.